Getting a new hobby

[Guest Dan CYKA]

Since the number one MSFS developer of add-ons decided that it was time to get something in return for his 1,000's of hours, there has been some grumbles in the audiance. Sure, nobody likes to have to pay for anything, but it is a fact of life. Therefore I decided to get a new hobby. Something that I could afford. No matter what you say, if your serious about simming, then it is a hobby. So lets see what my new relaxing past time will be.Skiing, that sounds like fun.Now my new skies will be between $700 - $1500 as I found a pretty good dealer.I have not done this before so I will have to learn. $295Oh ya, I have to get up the mountain. $54 for the day. I had better only go at night, much cheaper. $36Lets see now, I get about 3-4 months of ski time. The budget is tight so I had better only go about 2 or 3 times a month. Oh I forgot all the nice cloths and boots. Better add about another $1000. There will some other costs I am sure, but I think I can find some good deals.Estimated costs for new hobby: $2347.00.Amount of time able to enjoy hobby: 12 sessions per season. Hummmm, maybe golf.Of course I will need clubs. Found an awsome deal.Driver: $55 - Putter: $47 - Set of irons: $56 - Total: $158.00Oh ya, almost forgot, balls: 1 doz: $20 I'll most likely need about 3 dozen.Have to get a place to golf I guess: Golf Pass: $460 seasonAnd of course the shoes, bag, and other incidentals. Lets be frugal: $500.00Estimated costs for new hobby: $1,178.00Amount of time to enjoy hobby: Maybe 15 sessions per season. Lets have another look a simmingBase game: $601,000's of add-on products; FREEMaybe pick up a few good payware add-ons: $100To make it real fun I need a couple of toys. Yoke and pedals, AVSIM had a good deal: $260Oh ya, that damn Pete guy wants his cut: $22Fancy cloths. Oh ya I'm at home. Guess I'll just fly in my underware and drink my beer. $12 for dozen beerThat should keep me going for a bit.Estimated costs for new hobby: Lets give it $500.00Amount of time to enjoy the hobby: Year round if my wife lets me stay home.OK, I know what your thinking now. "Dan, what about all the computer equipment and stuff?" Good question. The thing to remember is that I also left out transportation, gas, and a whole bunch of other stuff in the other two also. I just wanted to get a basic idea of general start up costs. I already had a good computer.Well after looking at it, this simming stuff is not so bad after all."HEY PETE, WHERE DO I SEND THE CHEQUE?"

[Guest ba747heavy]

Good comparison. I think the computer is a moot point. All(or almost all) simmers use there computers for purposes other than simming. In that light, I think that 'I paid $2000 for a computer to sim on' is really very silly ;-) I know that some people have built special comptuers for simming, but they are in the minority.

[Guest ozhero]

He he he.... this is a GREAT post !My sentiments exactly.

[Arklight1 140]

:-lolGood point Dan!!No matter what your hobby it becomes expensive.My old hobby for instance was WWII/Modern Armor/Aircraft modeling. Lets break that down:1. Tamiya/Hasegawa Model Kit: $40-$60 (usually closer to $60 depending on kit detail)2. Gotta paint it!: $30-$40 for paint.3. Can't paint without brushes!: $20-$50 (yep, brushes can get that expensive!)4. Detailed Literature for weathering and other details: $20-$305. Airbrush (try feathering an edge with a paint brush, LOL): Price depends on how much you want to spend...a lot or a whole lot. :-lol Mine was about $125 IIRC.So you figure around $235 for your first model kit if you are serious about the hobby. Also figure another $40-60$ for every model kit after that....and also more paint if you ran out of your other stuff or if your new project has a different paint scheme. Also more money for reference materials.If you want to really get into building diorammas for your models then you can add quite bit on to that price above, depending on how serious you are about your work.Total enjoyment from building a model? You can look at it and take pride in it! That's it!On to another model you can look at and take pride in!!...that I'm sure the movers will break if you ever have to relocate :-lol I'm not sure if the above is a very good analogy but this thread reminded me of my experiences with modelling and how cheap I thought it cost and how much it ended up REALLY costing.:)

[Guest jason2112]

A good friend of mine is a fanatic model builder, too. He spends lots of money for a new propeller, a special decal set or a new canopy. I estimate hey pays at least 50$ per model, even if he gets the base kit quite cheap. Add to that endless hours of fiddling with tiny plastic parts, and in the end he can't even fly it ;->>>I prefer our simulated planes, much more fun in my opinion! Although a well built plastic model can look fantastic!!!VOlker :]P.S.: Thanks for the original post, you're so right!

[Tabs 2,790]

How about playing music? Here's my current bill for this "hobby" of playing and recording I've pursued for the last 13 years:1 Ernie Ball Music Man Van Halen signature guitar - $18001 Ibanez JPM-100 guitar - $12001 Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci signature guitar - $14001 Peavey 5150 stage amplifier stack - $15001 Line 6 Vetta computer modelling amplifier - $16001 Line6 PODxt modelling amplifier - $5001 DigiDesign 001 ProTools computer recording system - $1075That's right, in pure hardware alone I have $9075 invested into creating music. Add to that the cost of all the instructional books, videos, and accesories like strings, polish, and repairs/setups and I'm probably very close to the $15,000 mark.So let's see what I'm up to with FS:FS2002 Pro - $75767PIC - $35Active Sky wxRE - $15PMDG 737NG - $40Dreamfleet 737 - $30Dreamfleet Archer - $20Dreamfleet Cardinal - $23Dreamfleet 310 - $23Phoenix A320 - $25Phoenix Dash8 - $20RealAir SF.260 - $25Flight1 Meridian - $30Flight1 421 - $23Flight1 DC-9 - $25Flight1 Ultimate Traffic - $30CaptainSim 727 - $35FSGenesis Terrain CDs - $50Grand Total: $524 spent on FS over the course of TWO YEARS.I can only come to the conclusion that the people complaining about the big bad evil scourge of payware aircraft either:1. Have no money or2. Have an incredilby warped sense of what they're entitled toIf $250 dollars a year (and probably not that much for most people - I have almost all the major addons) is too much for such an immersive and satisfying "hobby" then we're in trouble...Ryan

[MartijnPleines 0]

Yeah, and I suppose you could blow a year or two of simming money on just a couple of flying lessons too...

[Guest Tim W]

>How about playing music? Here's my current bill for this>"hobby" of playing and recording I've pursued for the last 13>years:>>1 Ernie Ball Music Man Van Halen signature guitar ->$1800>1 Ibanez JPM-100 guitar - $1200>1 Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci signature guitar ->$1400>1 Peavey 5150 stage amplifier stack - $1500>1 Line 6 Vetta computer modelling amplifier - $1600>1 Line6 PODxt modelling amplifier - $500>1 DigiDesign 001 ProTools computer recording system ->$1075>>That's right, in pure hardware alone I have $9075>invested into creating music. Add to that the cost of all the>instructional books, videos, and accesories like strings,>polish, and repairs/setups and I'm probably very close to the>$15,000 mark.Ryan,Perhaps you should take up the tambourine! :-outtaSeriously though, As a fellow guitar player who owns 3 accoustic's (one of which is a Martin D45), I know exactly where you're coming from. No hobby is or ever will be free. Even if I wanted to take up jogging (heaven forbid) I'd still have to buy running shoes!I have no problem with paying for FSUIPC and in fact as I supported Pete to the tune of 50 euros when it was "donationware", according to his press release, I can register it for free anyway!. Though I won't do that I'll actually pay for it again. I realise how much that "little" module has increased my enjoyment of FS over the years.Good luck with the band! You certainly have some impressive gear there!!And Dan, I agree 100% with your original post. Well put!BestTimhttp://www.cambridgeflyingclub.com/images/timavatar2.jpg

[Guest CargoMun]

He he good points all of them. I think alot of the comments in certain posts are more frustrations over the fact that previous freeware turns payware (rather then payware in general), and some people have grown dependant on it.Imagine how maybe one would feel if you had previously gotten golf lessons or whatever for free and all of a sudden you'd have to pay for the exact same service ;) Some people feel its unfair especially if grown heavily dependant on that thing.By all means this happens in 'real life' as well. Many people - i would guess - just have a hard time coping with it since the freeware idea is a long standing idea both in FS sim world and also the Internet itself.Just my $0.02 or Euro's or hmm Paypal maybe ;)

[Wolfko 0]

Very good point Dan!But my god, where do you buy your skies? I do hope you talk about Canadian $. But still you get the top ski models for half the price here in Austria! Hmm, maybe I should start an e-business of selling skies to Canada! :-lolWolfgang

[Guest]

OK, let's see how this works:-)1. The ski boots and and lift tickets should be free right?:-)2. I know they should just give those golf balls and tees away for the love of the hobby right?:-)3. And oh yes the addons and the beers should also be free right?:-)Best RegardsRon HamiltonPresidentEaglesoft Development Group

[brucek 38]

You missed real flying! :) At $93 an hour, plus all the charts and periodic medicals, flight currency reviews.... you're right, simming is real cheap when it comes down to it!Bruce.

[Christopher Low 5,332]

Why would you want to buy skies for skiing ? Surely you would prefer a pair of skis ? :-lolChris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest Bigshot]

You all act like MicroSoft FSim is the only sim out there. Here's a bit of information. IT AIN'T!. Xplane is available and doesn't have the payware. Most everything is free. Same with CFS2 & CFS3. IL2 Sturovick addons are free. We have Lock On coming soon. I'm sure those fans won't be charging for improvements. With a couple small exceptions, I know of no simulation that has went as nuts as FSim with payware addons. I think it's time for MicroSoft to shut that aspect of the sim down for good. It'd be in their best interest. Personally, I'll be sending em' an email to that effect. So before you go and start comparing the expense of various hobbies, you should stay with a similar one. I can go golfing. That's cheap compared to flying a lear jet around the country for pleasure. I can collect classic cars. Geez, that's expensive compared to golfing. What's the point?

[Guest Smiley]

:) Let me see, where do I start.Something not listed here. SCUBA Diving :)Start off with a wetsuit $360.00Regulator and first stage with alternate and depth/pressure guage and timer built in $600.00Dive computer so you can "feel" a little safer $500.00Fins $100.00Mask and snorkle with prescription lenses added in $150.00Gloves $40.00Boots $40.00Weight belt with weights $45.002 Tanks at $180.00 each $360.00Dive knife $60.00Dive light to see the little fish in the dark waters here in the PNW $80.00Dive Hood $40.00Buoyancy Compensator $360.00Dive slate to communicate to friends underwater $20.00Goodie bag to collect things with $18.00Total $2,773.00You say you want to learn how to dive ?$350.00 for certification plus expenses to dive location.What ? you want to take pictures underwater ? Dive camera $1,000.00You're getting cold holding still while trying to take that perfect picture under that 44 degree water ?Drysuit $1,600.00Something to wear under the drysuit to keep you warm while you are getting into and out of the drysuit in the cold. A new DiveskinIII thermal undergarment $320.00New total $6,043.00And you still haven't gone out diving :)New boat to get you to the dive sites $12,000.00 It just never stops. Kind of like flight simming with all that is available. You buy what makes you happy. If you don't want it you don't have to buy it.Someone above stated they didn't think MS should allow add-ons. Sounds like someone is addicted and if it's out there they can't stay away from it ;)